International trust backs Australian soil carbon system

May 9, 2019

AgriProve MD Matthew Warnken

The Grantham Environmental Trust has invested in AgriProve, an Australian agricultural startup to commercialise soil carbon solutions that improve agricultural productivity while sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change.

The deal between the Grantham Trust’s Neglected
Climate Opportunities program and the innovative Australian company will be
worth AU$2.5 million when fully exercised as part of an initial seeding round
of investment.

“The investment from the Grantham Trust is a recognition of the global potential of soil carbon as a means of reversing global warming, and a vote of confidence in the potential for AgriProve to provide a commercial model for building soil carbon at scale,” managing director of AgriProve Matthew Warnken said.

“We are investing to see how quickly AgriProve can
scale the soil carbon solution in Australia as success here will help advance
adoption throughout the rest of the world.”

AgriProve is a special-purpose vehicle set up to mainstream soil carbon farming and is a spinoff of leading Australian carbon abatement contractor Corporate Carbon.

In mid-March Australia’s first soil carbon credits were issued under the federal government’s AU$2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) for AgriProve’s flagship project in eastern Victoria. They were also the first soil carbon credits globally to be eligible under a national target in accordance with The Paris Agreement.

Funds from the investment will be used to support the
deployment of farmer led initiatives to fast track soil carbon project
registrations, roll out the AgriProve Soilkee System and mainstream soil carbon
as a pathway to agricultural productivity and improved water management.

Australia has unique conditions in which to hothouse
the commercialisation of soil carbon developments and large-scale carbon
abatement. It is the only nation to have a measurement-based methodology that
covers all forms of agriculture under a government based regulatory framework.
This is coupled with a government-backed market for the resulting carbon
credits via the ERF.

Australia accounts for half of all measurement based
soil carbon projects globally and this leadership position is due in large part
to bipartisan support for carbon farming domestically. The Neglected
Climate Opportunities investment in AgriProve will help build Australia as a
test case for the development of soil carbon farming at scale, which can then
be adopted internationally.